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General News

10 July, 2020

Rest of the cape reopens

By Phil Brandel

Rest of the cape reopens - feature photo

As of noon today more council areas across Cape York have reopened to visitors (excluding Victorians). The latest reopenings come after most areas of the cape reopened last Friday, July 3.

The latest areas to reopen include The Northern Peninsula Area, Kowanyama Aboriginal Shire, Torres Shire and Torres Strait Island Regional Council areas. Meaning that campers and holidaymakers can now drive all the way to the tip of Cape York.

The openings come on the same day as the Queensland border is reopened to interstate visitors (excluding Victorians).

The Moreton Telegraph Station and campground is nearly 300 kms from the tip of Cape York and 130 kms east of Weipa and owner Michael Hintz said the reopening of the cape is the best news they have had in a long-time.

“Knowing that the cape is now open to the general public is fantastic. We want everybody to know that Cape York is well and truly open for business," 

Michael admits that despite the openings, bookings are still slow. “During the normal school holidays we would have about 40 cars per night, at the moment we only have about 5- 6 per night and that’s mainly locals coming for a weekend away," he said

“But the good news is, the road isn’t too damaged or corrugated or busy like it would normally be in July, it’s a bit like April or November traffic.

“The roads are wonderful, there’s less dust on the road and there are fewer crowds up here at the moment so it’s a wonderful time to say hello and visit the cape.”

While Michael’s business didn’t officially close, the lockdown of the cape did hurt his business “It’s been like one long wet season, we budgeted to be able to start trading from the May 1 but we haven’t had any real income until our first bookings arrived today (Friday, July 10).

“June, July, August are normally our busiest months where we get visitors from the entire eastern seaboard with people wanting to get away from the cold down south.”

cape-reopening-300x169.jpg

The Moreton Telegraph Station and campground is nearly 300 kms from the tip of Cape York

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